A growing appetite for expansion

Two-story proposed addition to building would add space for two restaurants

Tim , Times Union

By Tim O'Brien

Published 7:25 pm, Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Location of a proposed 20,000 square foot expansion plan at Crossgates Mall is shown Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2013, in Guilderland, N.Y. The area is located between Dick's Sporting Goods and the Food Court area. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Location of a proposed 20,000 square foot expansion plan at...

Architectural drawing which shows the planed area, in blue, for a 20,000 square foot expansion at Crossgates Mall. (Town of Guilderland)

Architectural drawing which shows the planed area, in blue, for a...

Location of a proposed 20,000 square foot expansion plan at Crossgates Mall is shown Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2013, in Guilderland, N.Y. The area is located between Dick's Sporting Goods and the Food Court area. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Location of a proposed 20,000 square foot expansion plan at...

Location of a proposed 20,000 square foot expansion plan at Crossgates Mall is shown Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2013, in Guilderland, N.Y. The area is located between Dick's Sporting Goods and the Food Court area. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

"We have two restaurant tenants that require outside entrances," said Michael Shanley, a principal in Pyramid Cos., the business that owns Crossgates. "To accommodate them, we need to bump out the building."

Shanley said he could not reveal what prospective tenants are looking at the site, but he hopes they will open sometime in 2014.

The Zoning Board of Appeals will be the lead agency reviewing the proposal, Weston said. The mall is seeking a change to its special-use permit to allow for the expansion, Weston said. The board, which is scheduled to get the proposal next week, will hold a public hearing.

The Planning Board was scheduled to review the site plan for the first time on Wednesday.

Despite the size of the expansion, Weston said, it would not greatly increase the mall's retail space. "When Dick's Sporting Goods went in, they didn't take up the whole space," Weston said. "The rest became open space."

Shanley said the expansion would increase the building's size by 1 percent. He said Weston is right that some of the internal retail space has been lost over the years, so the impact of the addition would be to add 2,000 square feet.